Zion’s Redemption Radio Network

THE KINGDOM OF GOD of Chapter 14 of The Church and The Gospel 

 

Pages 215 to 228

 

Definition and Distinction

The subject of the Kingdom of God is the grand central theme interwoven throughout the pages of scripture. There are more references in the New Testament to the Kingdom of God than there are to the Church of Christ. It was the main subject in John’s book of Revelations; it was the principle topic of John the Baptist; and the Gospel itself is called the Gospel of the Kingdom. For establishing that Kingdom, Christ was brought to trial and crucified, and it is to rule over that Kingdom that Christ will come again, to reign over all other kingdoms and nations.

If the Church were more important than the Kingdom, why didn’t Christ say, “Seek ye first the Church” rather than “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God”? The importance of this subject cannot be ignored nor overlooked. But if we are to seek first this kingdom, we need to know what it is. If we are ignorant of its meaning, it is impossible for us to seek it at all.

For thousands of years, thousands of churches have put their private interpretation on the Kingdom of God and Church of Christ. Some have said that kingdom has not yet been on the earth; or that it was here only during the ministry of Jesus. Others have said that the Church of Jesus Christ is the same as the Kingdom of God.

THE BLACKS AND THE PRIESTHOOD, Part 3 of Chapter 13 of The Church and The Gospel 

Pages 206 to 214

Pressure from Without and Within

For nearly 150 years, the LDS Church maintained this same position on Blacks not being able to hold the Priesthood. But outside pressures upon the Church grew and so did arguments, both pro and con, over this issue. In 1924 Joseph F. Smith noted that-

The question arises from time to time in regard to the Negro race and the Priesthood. . . . It is true that the Negro race is barred from holding the Priesthood, and this has always been the case. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught this doctrine. . . . (Imp. Era 27:564)

THE BLACKS AND THE PRIESTHOOD, Part 2 of Chapter 13 of The Church and The Gospel 

 

Pages 200 to 206

 

The Seed of Cain

Enoch was a man endowed with the power of God, for we read that he could speak the word of the Lord and “the earth trembled” or he could turn rivers of water “out of their course,” or make the “mountains fall” before him. Yet when he preached the word of the Lord, he went forth among “all the people, save it were the people of Canaan. . . .” Enoch saw that the people were “a mixture of all the seed of Adam save it was the seed of Cain, for the seed of Cain were black, and had not place among them.”

Those who were less valiant in pre-existence and who thereby had certain spiritual restrictions imposed upon them during mortality are known to us as the Negroes. Such spirits are sent to earth through the lineage of Cain, the mark put upon him for his rebellion against God. . . . (Mormon Doctrine, Bruce R. McConkie, pp. 476-77)

THE BLACKS AND THE PRIESTHOOD, Part 1 of Chapter 13 of The Church and The Gospel 

 

Pages 198 to 200

 

The Pre-Existence

An individual’s right to bear the Priesthood in this life was determined by experiences that occurred in the Pre-Existence. According to Joseph Smith:

Every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the world was ordained to that very purpose in the Grand Council of heaven before this world was. I suppose I was ordained to this very office in that Grand Council. (TPJS, p. 365)

God told Abraham that he was among those that were appointed to be rulers and that he was “chosen before thou wast born.” (Abraham 3:23) Other spirits were given certain appointments, gifts and callings, but not necessarily pertaining to the Priesthood, as they did not qualify there, neither do they qualify here. And even among those who were given that responsibility, only a relatively few prove faithful and truly magnify that Priesthood.

PLURAL MARRIAGE, Part 4 of Chapter 12 of The Church and The Gospel 

 

Pages 191 to 197

 

Matthias Cowley (1901)

None of the revelations of the prophets either past or present have been repealed. . . . These revelations received by our prophets and seers are all of God, and we cannot repeal or disannul them without making God out a liar, and God cannot lie. . . . I wish to remind you of a certain revelation given through President Taylor. The command was given to set our quorums and houses in order, and the promise was that if we should obey the command, God would fight our battles for us; but we did not obey the command, so God did not fight our battles for us. If we [192] had obeyed that command and revelation given through President Taylor, there would have been no Manifesto. (Smoot Investigations 1:8, Jan. 28, 1901)

PLURAL MARRIAGE, Part 3 of Chapter 12 of The Church and The Gospel 

Pages 186 to 191

Joseph Smith (1843)

The same God that has thus far dictated me and directed me and strengthened me in this work, gave me this revelation and commandment on celestial and plural marriage and the same God commanded me to obey it. He said to me that unless I accepted it and introduced it, and practiced it, I, together with my people, would be damned and cut off from this time hence forth. And they say if I do so, they will kill me. O, what shall I do? If I do not practice it, I shall be damned with my people. If I do teach it, and practice it, and urge it, they say they will kill me, and I know they will. But we have got to observe it. It is an eternal principle and was given by way of commandment and not by way of instruction. (Contributor 5:259)

Heber C. Kimball (1856)

You might as well deny “Mormonism”, and turn away from it, as to oppose the plurality of wives. Let the Presidency of this Church, and the Twelve Apostles, and all the authorities unite and say with one voice that they will oppose that doctrine, and the whole of them would be damned. What are you opposing it for? It is a principle that God has revealed for the salvation of the human family. (JD 5:203-204)

Brigham Young (1865)

There is no half-way house. The childish babble about another revelation is only evidence of how half-informed men can talk. The “Mormons” have either to spurn their religion and their God, and sink self-damned in the eyes of all civilization at a moment when most blessed in the practice of their faith, or go calmly on to the same issue which they have always had.

PLURAL MARRIAGE, Part 2 of Chapter 12 of The Church and The Gospel 

Pages 179 to 186

Because the revelation was received in 1843, the command to live that principle also came with it. Many men such as Brigham Young, John Taylor, Orson Pratt, William Clayton, Heber C. Kimball, and many others were commanded to obey it. Some men, however, such as William Law (Joseph’s second counselor), Stake President William Marks, and High Councilmen Leonard Soby and Austin Cowles, rejected the revelation. This division began a split in the Church which has continued ever since. Men who opposed the revelation set up a printing establishment in Nauvoo with the intent to expose the plural marriage doctrine. The first and only edition was published as The Nauvoo Expositor on May 10, 1844, and it referred to the revelation on the “plurality of wives, for time and eternity.”

Before the Prophet Joseph was killed, he predicted that his death would not end the persecutions that would come from the Saints living plural marriage:

It is thought by some that our enemies would be satisfied with my destruction; but I tell you that as soon as they have shed my blood, they will thirst for the blood of every man in whose heart dwells a single spark of the spirit of the fulness of the gospel . . . . It is not only to destroy me but every man and woman who dares believe the doctrines that God hath inspired me to teach to this generation. (“Plural Marriages as Taught by Joseph Smith,” Helen Mar Whitney, p. 19; as Lundwall quoted in Fate of the Persecutors. . . , p. 144)

PLURAL MARRIAGE, Part 1 of Chapter 12 of The Church and The Gospel 

 

Pages 174 to 179

 

An Ancient Doctrine

Polygamy, polygyny, or plural marriage certainly did not start with the Mormons. All the people of the Orient, who are descendants of Japheth, the son of Noah, have accepted it as an integral part of their marriage practices. All of the Arabic nations, who are descendants of Abraham, have continued to allow plural marriage because it is a principle of their religion that was practiced and honored by father Abraham.

All through the Bible the great and grand prophets, patriarchs and kings believed that God gave that principle as a divine revelation. Hence, it has been acceptable in most nations. This gave the Apostle Orson Pratt reason to say in 1852:

Plurality of wives is a doctrine very popular among most of mankind at the present day. It is practiced by the most powerful nations of Asia and Africa, and by numerous nations, inhabiting the Islands of the sea, and by the Aboriginal nations of the great Western Hemisphere. The one wife system is confined principally to a few small nations, inhabiting Europe and to those who are of European origin, inhabiting America. It is estimated by the most able historians of our day that about four-fifths of the population of the globe, believe and practice, according [175] to their respective laws, the doctrine of a Plurality of Wives. If the popularity of a doctrine is...

THE ONLY TRUE GOD, Part 4 of  Chapter 11 of The Church and The Gospel 

Pages 167 to 173

To Summarize This Chapter

 

The Prophet Joseph Smith said that “very few” understand “rightly” the true character of God.Scientists and philosophers have fallen short in their ideas of explaining the creation of man on this planet.Mankind are the offspring of God. All things are reproduced through no other means than procreation and generation.All the plants and animals came to this earth from another world.Adam (Michael, the great Prince, the Archangel) came here with a resurrected celestial body, and brought Eve (one of his wives) with him.   By eating of the fruit in the Garden of Eden, their bodies were transformed, allowing them to have mortal children.This doctrine, as taught by Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, was gradually rejected by subsequent Church members and leaders, and today is           considered as merely a false theory.

THE ONLY TRUE GOD, Part 3 of  Chapter 11 of The Church and The Gospel 

 

Pages 160 to 167

 

Question 7. What do the Bible and Biblical scholars say about the personage of Michael?

I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool; his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him; thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and [161] came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that shall not be destroyed. (Dan 7:9, 10, 13, 14)

The Ancient of Days is now taking His seat in judgment and aspects of His wrath are beginning to manifest themselves on the earth. Soon His Son Jesus Christ will return in the clouds of heaven and in righteousness He will judge and make war against all evil. (Destiny Magazine, Dec. 1953, Vol. 24, No. 12)