Essentials in Church History: A History of the Church from the Birth of Joseph Smith to the Present Time (1922), with Introductory Chapters on the Antiquity of the Gospel and the "Falling Away"Smith, Joseph Fielding
History
Essentials in Church History: A History of the Church from the Birth of Joseph Smith to the Present Time (1922), with Introductory Chapters on the Antiquity of the Gospel and the "Falling Away"
Smith, Joseph Fielding
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- History
In the various gathering places of the Saints from the days of Kirtland
the Lord commanded that temples to his name should be built. In Jackson
County and Far West, they were prevented from building temples by
their enemies, who drove them from their homes. At the conference of
the Church held in October, 1840, President Joseph Smith spoke of the
necessity of building a "house of the Lord" in Nauvoo. Reynolds Cahoon,
Elias Higbee and Alpheus Cutler were appointed a committee to build
such a house. On motion it was also resolved that a commencement be
made ten days from that date (Oct. 3, 1840) "and that every tenth day
he appropriated for the building of the temple." Early in January,
1841, the First Presidency issued a proclamation to the Saints
scattered abroad, in which they stated that "the temple of the Lord is
in progress of erection here, where the Saints will come to worship
the God of their fathers, according to the order of his house and the
powers of the Holy Priesthood, and will be so constructed as to enable
all the functions of the Priesthood to be duly exercised, and where
instructions from the Most High will be received."
The Revelation of January 19, 1841
A very important revelation was received January 19, 1841, dealing with
various subjects, but particularly with the building of the temple and
the ordinances to be performed therein. The Lord declared that the
prayers of the Prophet were acceptable to him, and he was called upon
to make a solemn proclamation of the Gospel to "all the kings of the
world, to the four corners thereof; to the honorable President-elect,
and the high-minded governors of the nation . . . and to all the
nations of the earth." It was to be written in the spirit of meekness,
yet of warning, for he was "about to call on them to give heed to the
light and glory of Zion, for the set time has come to favor her." The
Lord would visit the mighty and the rulers of the earth in the day
of his visitation. Therefore, said he, "Awake, O kings of the earth!
Come ye, O, come ye, with your gold and your silver, to the help of my
people, to the house of the daughters of Zion."
The Saints to Come from Afar
The Saints were also commanded to come from afar. Messengers were to
be chosen and sent unto them saying: "Come ye, with all your gold, and
your silver, and your precious stones, and with all your antiquities;
and with all who have knowledge of antiquities, that will come, may
come, and bring the box tree, and the fir tree, and the pine tree,
together with all the precious trees of the earth; and with iron, with
copper, and with brass, and with zinc, and your precious things of the
earth, and build a house to my name for the Most High to dwell therein."
Fulness of the Priesthood
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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