"My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right--and which I should join. "I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in His sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that 'they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof."' (See Pearl of Great Price, pp. 83-85). Thus ended the long night of spiritual darkness in which man had groped for centuries. Thus was begun the dispensation of which the ancient prophets had spoken, in preparation for the coming of the Christ to reign on earth as Lord and King. This glorious and unprecedented manifestation of the Father and the Son to a mortal was followed in later years by visitations of angelic personages through whom the Holy Priesthood was again restored to earth, and under whose direction the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was established in April, 1830. Joseph Smith was a prophet of the living God. His testimony is before the world. The saving ordinances of the Gospel are again administered under Divine authority, and the means of salvation are offered freely to all mankind. -- 32 -- A GOD OF MIRACLES Wonders Wrought by Devils WE believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, etc. (Articles of Faith, No. 7). The personal ministry of Jesus Christ in the flesh was characterized by many mighty works--signs, wonders, miracles, as they are severally called. The Apostles who labored to build up the Church after the Master's departure attested the divinity of their calling and priesthood by manifestations of power surpassing the ordinary attributes of mortals. Thus, these holy men were endowed with the ennobling gifts of the Spirit, which have been inherent in the Church of Christ in all ages. Multitudes have been troubled by the disquieting query as to why the gifts of prophecy, visions, revelation, healing, and the power to speak in diverse tongues are not apparent in the sectarian churches of modern times, and have found partial satisfaction in the assumption, unfounded and unscriptural though it be, that all such gifts and graces ceased with the passing of apostolic days and are not required as testimonies of the Spirit in a more enlightened age. That these spiritual gifts did cease as the apostasy of the Primitive Church progressed is doubtless true; but that the cause of the cessation was anything else than transgression by which the apostasy was brought about is unsupported by Scripture.