Honest-hearted people who profess a belief in the Bible cannot and do not deny that a true Church of Christ must necessarily enjoy the fruits of the Spirit. These are the gifts enumerated by Paul in the 12th chapter of Corinthians. How can a belief in such things be repudiated when they existed in the primitive Church, which was the genuine Church of Christ, established by Himself? If the true Church is extant now, its peculiarities and blessings must be the same. [3] It surely will be admitted that the Church will not only be the same in doctrine, ordinances, spirit, gifts and authority, {176} but also in organization and officers. Hence, as in primitive times, it will incorporate apostles, prophets, and other inspired men, who were given to the Church to edify its members until they "all come to a unity of the faith." It may be well to ask how a Church could be the Church of Christ denuded of some of its most conspicuous doctrines, ordinances, spirit, gifts, officers and organization. [4] In fact so wide is the gulf that separates the true Church--that described in the Scriptures--from the repudiative, revelationless, spiritless, disjointed churches of the day that it is difficult to discover even a remote resemblance. But these things are very plain and clear. They must be obvious to fair, candid truth-lovers. And as that is the only class whom the glorious light of revealed Gospel truth will be likely to impress with its beauty, it is to such that we, in the present writing, appeal. How clear is the wide discrepancy between the primitive Church, the true Church, and the sects of "Christendom" in every feature. How often we have listened to exclamations of astonishment from the lips of persons when this remarkable difference was first explained to them by the elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They have wondered that so potent a fact did not strike them before. This amazement has been increased when their attention has been called to the predictions of the inspired apostles and prophets regarding the apostasy from the ancient faith of the Saints. In fact Paul positively declares, in the 2nd chapter of 2nd Thessalonians that "That day (meaning the second coming of Christ) shall not come except there come a _falling away_ first." But it is not our purpose to elaborate upon this subject, preferring that our readers should peruse the Scriptures relating to it, guided by the passages to which their attention is directed by note. [5]