History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Volume 5Smith, Joseph, Jr.
History
History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Volume 5
Smith, Joseph, Jr.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Smith, Joseph, Jr., 1805-1844
When Elisha saw the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof,
it was unknown to others. When the Lord appeared to Abraham it was
at his tent door; when the angels went to Lot, no person knew them
but himself, which was the case probably with Abraham and his wife;
when the Lord appeared to Moses, it was in the burning bush, in
the tabernacle, or in the mountain top; when Elijah was taken in a
chariot of fire, it was unobserved by the world; and when he was in
a cleft of a rock, there was loud thunder, but the Lord was not in
the thunder; there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the
earthquake; and then there was a still small voice, which was the
voice of the Lord, saying, "What doest thou hear, Elijah?"
The Lord cannot always be known by the thunder of His voice, by
the display of His glory or by the manifestation of His power; and
those that are the most anxious to see these things, are the least
prepared to meet them, and were the Lord to manifest His power as
He did to the children of Israel, such characters would be the
first to say, "Let not the Lord speak any more, lest we His people
die."
We would say to the brethren, seek to know God in your closets,
call upon him in the fields. Follow the directions of the Book of
Mormon, and pray over, and for your families, your cattle, your
flocks, your herds, your corn, and all things that you possess;
ask the blessing of God upon all your labors, and everything that
you engage in. Be virtuous and pure; be men of integrity and
truth; keep the commandments of God; and then you will be able
more perfectly to understand the difference between right and
wrong--between the things of God and the things of men; and your
path will be like that of the just, which shineth brighter and
brighter unto the perfect day.
Be not so curious about tongues, do not speak in tongues except
there be an interpreter present; the ultimate design of tongues is
to speak to foreigners, and if persons are very anxious to display
their intelligence, let them speak to such in their own tongues.
The gifts of God are all useful in their place, but when they are
applied to that which God does not intend, they prove an injury, a
snare and a curse {32} instead of a blessing. We may some future
time enter more fully into this subject, but shall let this suffice
for the present.
_Thursday, 16_.--The following notice was published by the Nauvoo
[Masonic] lodge:
NOTICE.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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