He
Who Foresees the Approach of Evil or Its Consequences upon His Fellows, and
Fails to Give Timely Warning Thereof, Is an Unfaithful Watch-man, and Must
Share, as He Deserves, the Distress of His Vision.(See Ezekiel 33rd
Chapter; also 3:33-19.)
It is more than probable that the
issuance of this pamphlet will give rise to varied feelings in the minds of its
readers concerning it and myself; but it is performed as a duty, with a determination
to cheerfully accept the fate or fortune it invites. The matter of each item
must furnish its own defense, should any be demanded. I offer none, believing
that to do so would be tantamount to an admission of its necessity and betray a
fear that the potency lodged within and associated with them was insufficient
to meet their own entailments.
I frankly confess, however, that
going thus into print is distasteful to me. A factional arena, already
reverberant with the echoes of apocryphal effusions along similar lines, offers
no enticement to me. To enter it and await the direct interposition of heaven
or the arbitrament of time for vindication while a safe investment-is
nevertheless, repellant to my impatient nature, and were it not for the conviction
that follows several days of fasting and prayer I would not venture.
If the several communications
herein are true in their import, that fact alone is, of course, sufficient
defense for their publication, for to withhold them from those who, according to
that import, they were evidently intended to affect, would be a breach of trust
on the part of the one who was made their custodian. Their contents clearly
imply their mission. They surely were not intended for the pigeon hole of my
private desk.
If on the other hand they are not
true to that indication, the honest reader will not be injured by having had
the privilege to read and judge and denounce them. And let me here say that,
whether denounced or endorsed and welcomed, my personal feelings wil remain
undisturbed. I shall at least have performed conscientiously what appeared to
be a duty, and the results for us all will remain with God. What would you have
done with them, reader, had they come to you?
Had I heeded the requests of some
to whom they were read at or near the time they were written, all of them
except the very recent ones would have been given to the printer long ago; but
some experiences that followed the heeding of similar advice before have made
me sensitive and cautious perhaps unduly so; but, having, I think, now passed
the danger of their repetition, I hesitate no longer.
That the reader may understand, let
me give an item or two: The communication bearing date
During a later conference, -when
discussing a resolution submitted by the quorum of apostles, regarding secret
societies, two elders on the affirmative side of the question, quoted from the
above communication in support of their position. One of the most prominent
officials of the church, on the negative side of the question, answered those
two elders on that point by declaring that revelation to be a manifest effort
of its publisher to climb up into the “Moses seat.”
Yes, dear reader, it did hurt; but
it gave me a suggestion and developed my bump of caution just a little. It made
the thought of my being used again in that line a bit distasteful to me.
A few years ago reliable
information reached me to the effect that in certain places where I had spent
some of the best years of my active missionary life, the rumor was being
circulated and to quite an extent believed, that I had received revelations
pointing to my elevation to the leading office in the Church and was
anticipating their fulfillment. Of course I tried to run it down, but like the
scattered thistle seed, who could regather it?
Right here in Independence, about
the same time word reached me that a prominent church dignitary had declared
that I was holding and presiding over secret meetings where plans were being
developed to have the president of the Church ousted at the next conference;
or, failing in that, to impeach him. I ran it down, secured written denials,
which were followed by reaffirmations and offers to go into court and prove
that the party charged had circulated the report-all from prominent elders.
Since then this town and many other
places throughout the States and elsewhere have been flooded with the
information that I had started a church of my own. A certain meeting house
where a group of Saints were congregating was declared to be “Luff’s Church.”
It so appeared in one of the local papers here, and that gave me opportunity to
publicly deny it, which I did in plain terms; but still the story is in
circulation. Every one of these statements was absolutely and unqualifiedly
false, but they are mentioned here that the reader may discern what mental
barriers have been in the way of an earlier publication of some of the contents
of this pamphlet.
I had purchased a one-roomed
commodious building, formerly used as a printing office and was moving it to a
lot I owned with the intention of remodeling and renting it. While it was on
rollers en route to the lot, a brother who with others was holding meetings in
a theatre room stopped me on the street and asked me to not partition it, but
rent it to them for their meetings as they much preferred such a building and
location to the theatre building. I did so until I sold it, and that is the
extent of my running a church. True, I have preached in it when requested; so
has the presiding evangelist of the church many times. So has one of the First
Presidency. So have some of the apostles and a number of the general
missionaries and local elders of the Reorganization. Hence, it must be their
church also if it is mine. It is true I have taken the sacrament there, for
they use the common cup and that is my preference, but so do a dozen other
ministers of the
This pamphlet is not issued to air
grievances or defend attitudes, but to announce my whereabouts and relieve
myself of any blame that a further withholding of its contents might make me
deserving of. Two of the communications are of comparatively recent date, but
the conviction that frees me to the publication of the others covers these
equally. Perhaps I have been recreant or cowardly in delaying. I hope not: but
being now in my 78th year and so far as that fact indicates,
standing on the brink of the grave and waiting for the transfer summons to
where human judgment need not disturb, and where-face to face with the
all-seeing, all-knowing, infinite God, I shall hear a judgment rendered upon my
course (including the issuance of this pamphlet) that is of eternal import,
surely this fact will give me immunity from suspicion of vanity or aspiration
now to office or place in the minds of my brethren because of this publication,
and inasmuch as the expense of publishing it has. been met exclusively from my
own purse and no payment is asked for the copies circulated, the thoughts of
money-lust will also be excluded.
For nearly fifty-four years I have
been a minister of the Church. For twenty-two years I was a member of the
Quorum of the Twelve. The gospel reached me by letter, containing a leaflet,
when I was living and acting as a local minister of the
I write thus that my readers may
know, regardless of what may have saluted their ears concerning me since I have
had the opportunity of traveling among them, that where I was, as to the faith,
when I was in their midst I am now.
Perhaps no now living man was more
closely associated and intimate with our late President Joseph Smith than
myself. Certainly no man ever loved him more. Yet no man, perhaps, ever more
openly and earnestly opposed him than did I, when we differed on matters under
legislation. In most instances he proved to be right in his convictions and
contentions, but not in all, and I well remember his appearance before the
Twelve one morning and saying as he stood before us: “Brethren, I have come to
offer my apology to you. I am now convinced that you are right.” I could
scarcely refrain from embracing and kissing him at that moment. He looked so
noble to my eyes.
As he was lying upon what proved to
be his dying bed, surrounded by quite a number, he turned to me and said: “We
haven’t always agreed, Joseph, have we? We’ve had some pretty strong
contentions-you and Brethren Lambert and Caffal and Kelley and Heman and others
of the Twelve and I.”
When I acquiesced he added: “Well,
Joseph, I never loved any of you less because of it. I knew you all and that I
could trust you anywhere, and that the work as well as myself was always safe
in your hands. They were all noble men.”
To this I answered: “Brother
Joseph, no man was ever bigger in my estimation than you and I couldn’t love
any man more than I have you; but there was one thing that was always bigger
than you, and that was the Church, and when that got between us you couldn’t
see me and I couldn’t see you.”
Stretching forth his hand and
seizing mine, he replied: “That’s it exactly. I couldn’t have said it so
nicely; but there is one thing I want to say to you, Joseph, and that is that
you men saw the situation at that time better than I did, and as I said to you
once before, Joseph, some men have been apprehensive concerning you because of
your disagreement with me and because of their opinion of your attitude, and
have predicted your apostasy; but, Joseph, you will never trail the flag. I
feel certain of that.”
Blessed old man. He towers like a
monumental vision of honor before my eyes as I think of him. He did not make me
vain by the remark concerning me; but he clinched the conviction that, like a
rivet, his former association with me had entered, viz., that he understood me.
He knew me as but few, if any other, individuals ever did. I well remember one
piece of advice he gave me years before, when in the course of our conversation
he said: “Joseph, never drive your stakes so deep that you will not be able to
withdraw them later if you shall desire to.” Our differences of opinion or
judgment never disturbed our affection for each other.
I refer to these things to pass on
the lessons he helped to teach me, that rank or station does not exempt any man
from the liability to be mistaken, nor relieve him of the moral obligation to
acknowledge his mistake when he discovers it. He did not want to go from us
forever without leaving with us the acknowledgement of his discovery, and no
act of any high-ranking man ever betokened nobility more clearly. Oh. what a
friend and helper I lost in his departure from us.
If from the realm of light to which
he has been transf erred he has been able to survey the field of my occupancy
since then, and can discern me today, he can record the fulfillment of his
prophecy. The flag staff Is still in my hand and the ensign is floating to the
highest breeze I feel myself capable of holding it. My efforts in that line are
attended to this day with as rich spiritual experiences as at any time in my
active life, and the hope of my soul today is that the hour is fast closing
upon the Church when as a result of divine intervention and a sanctified
experience, all who have come under the Restoration covenant shall present a
united front and reflect the glory of God’s abiding presence-a Zion in the
reality portrayed in the Enoch Story.
Concerning the several
communications contained herein there is but little left to state. The “Song of
Admonition” has been in circulation and use throughout t-he Church since 1904,
and reports from everywhere indicate Its universal endorsement as a loving
appeal -from heaven. The “Song of Entreaty” was sung by me in the
The document bearing date
The headings in all cases where
they appear were selected and placed by me as I thought they were appropriate.
The communication entitled “Love’s Warning and Entreaty” was written quite
recently-February 10, 1930, and has only been read to half a dozen persons
prior to its going into this printer’s hands.
One final word. In the receiving
and writing of the contents of this pamphlet I neither saw a personage nor
heard a voice. There was no accompaniment of outer demonstration in any
instance. My being was invaded with an influence or power of enlightenment and
intelligent outreach, such as I have become familiar with, and a peculiar
constraint to write, from which I never was freed in any instance till I had
yielded to the urge, and which in each case was followed with a feeling of
restfulness and a happy consciousness of having performed a good work, for
which I felt, 0, so thankful to God.
As between the experiences
connected with the production of the “Song of Admonition” and any one of the
others, I know of no difference. To me the power, the influence, the operations
and the results were identical. I make these statements plainly because I do
not want the reader’s mind to be influenced favorably by the imagination of
spectacular display or anything in that line, or by any personal testimony from
me as to their divinity. Using perhaps plainer words, I want the reader to
peruse the contents of this pamphlet just as he or she would listen to or read
a sermon, and to be governed in judgment as to the character of their matter
and origin. by the convictions (favorable or otherwise) borne in upon them by
the Spirit whose guidance they depend upon for safety as the disciples of
Christ.
That is all in the way of personal testimony that I care to
give regarding them. Any member of the Church is welcome to a copy of the pamphlet
upon application while they last. If the contents are esteemed of sufficient
importance to the reader to lead him or her to pray, if in doubt concerning
them, may God lend an ear to their petitions and grant them an answer that will
ensure their safety and add an item of value to their gospel experience, and
bring Him glory from the decision they are led to make. With this prayer I send
it forth and relieve my soul. I have not sought to invade any other man’s
sphere or assume any other man’s prerogatives; but simply to yield to the
constraint I have referred to and occupy as has been the accorded privilege of
every member of the Church throughout its history, as our prayer meeting
experiences and our Church history will bear ample witness, that I might thereby
contribute the mite entrusted to my custody toward the promotion of the
interests they may serve-happily conscious that no man, by the observance of
what is therein enjoined will ever thereby be made less a saint of God or
-disciple of the Christ.
–JOSEPH LUFF.
Received
at
Behold, saith the Lord: I have
heard and do hear the petitions of those who are called my people. My ear is
not heavy, neither is my arm short. My covenant with
Behold I am wedded to my covenant
and am jealous of my agreement with those who are there under. Once I have
spoken!-yea, twice have I declared that the set time to favor Zion has come;
but my army is not yet very great, and their weapons, many of them, are yet
carnal. Nevertheless my word shall, not fail, neither shall my purpose be
changed, notwithstanding my people are slow to perceive and the confidence of some
has failed.
Dig ye deep into the mountains
which centuries have formed and into which my providences are interwoven, and
bring forth the witnesses of my forgetfulness or the testimonies of my failure.
Reveal unto me wherein the generations have made frail the texture of my
ordinances or dissolved the integrity of my promises. Speak! and I will hearken
unto you. Declare! and I will give audience! Who hath been able to stand in the
way of my accomplishment, or hath put fetters upon my hands? Are not cities and
nations and villages but as pebbles in my hands? For, behold, on yesterday
their magnitude was thine amazement, and tomorrow thou shalt ask: “Where are
they?” and shalt declare, “Surely the Lord’s hand is in this thing.”
Remember, therefore, that I change
not, neither in my power nor my purpose, and what I have designed I will
execute, and naught shall stay my hand, and my heritage shall not fail.
But who shall be called my
But ye say, “Wherein have we failed
and in what is our Infidelity revealed?” Listen! And I will give answer, and
then shall ye reply whether ye have been silent when evil has been present
among you, and whether ye have consented thereby to a defilement of my
heritage. For, behold, houses have been builded unto me and have been,
nevertheless, reserved for pleasures which do not enrich the soul. Altars have
been dedicated unto me and have been shared with other gods., The mammon of
this world hath been sought by guile and oppression and unseemly desire by
some, and because a portion thereof has been given as a tithe or an offering
unto me, it hath been imagined that I will wink at these things; some have
declared themselves separated unto me and I have chosen them out of the world
and made them to be agents unto me; but they have sought out other shrines and
made covenant in secret places in which I have no delight.
Behold and consider: If my weapons
are not sufficient for your faith shall these things give them increase? Or
shall ye add that which is carnal to make effective the work for which my
Spirit hath been given? Shall I be content while this evil doth pollute my
estate? Behold the brick that is not burned and the mortar which is not
tempered; yea, and the material which I have not selected, shall not find
permanent place with that of my choosing; for my fires shall consume and my
floods shall overwhelm, and men within and without my church shall yet learn that
but one pattern hath been given by which ye shall build, if I shall accept your
labor; and but one line hath been given by which to measure; and whosoever
shall not gauge himself thereby and crucify himself to the world, shall yet be
gauged thereby and shall lose his all; for “whosoever shall fall upon this
Stone shall be broken, but upon whomsoever it shall fall it shall grind him to
powder.”
Live ye, therefore, and labor in
love, not so much that ye may obtain; but that ye may make effective my law and
exemplify my life. In this ye shall find riches and your peace shall not fail,
and thus I shall have delight in those who not only say but do according to the
purpose of my gospel.
Received
Concerning my people and my work
observe this:
I have chosen them out of the world
that through them I might reveal the sufficiency of my arm and the completeness
of my ordinations for the performance of my great and strange work-yea, even
the work unto which alone I had appointed them, that their achievements should
not be by the wisdom of men, nor their triumphs give glory to the flesh; but
behold they have returned to the world for their equipment. They have forgotten
their calling. They have crowded my altars and my sanctuaries with the
innovations of men and the weapons of their own choosing, till they have made
the place too narrow for my feet that I cannot walk therein and there is small
room for my dwelling among them. Instead of gold of my refining they have
chosen brass and have thought to behold my image in the burnishing of their own
hands. They have supplanted me in my house, insomuch that men seek me there and
find me not as I am, but their ears are saluted with the creations of men and
their eyes with the vision of that wherein my glory is not reflected.
I have counseled equality among my
people and my words have been upon their banners, but wherein have they been
honored? Is it meet in my sight that one shall be the equal of many when his
hand shall enter the treasury of my house? Shall it be said, of one, “he shall
judge of his own needs and his exactions be regarded” and to another: “others
shall judge for thee and thou shalt be content with a tithe of what was given
to thy brother, notwithstanding thee and thine have as great need”? Have not my
people consented to such things while with their lips they have said: “We are
one and the Lord is our counselor”?
Surely I have counseled a heedless
people, for my words are soon forgotten. I have appointed their work and
endowed their hands, but have failed of their confidence. Yet who has trusted
me in vain, or who that has been faithful has found my weapons insufficient?
Where has my work been put to shame among those who have trusted my provision?
Has he whom I have chosen become wiser than I, or have years brought feebleness
to my hand? Hath not my eye foreseen, or are the conditions that confront my
heritage a surprise unto me? Have I grown small in my people’s eyes or have my
ordinances become shrunken that they are without virtue? If my appointments
avail not, shall I make potent the instruments of their choosing, or by what
line shall their success be measured? Has my light grown dim and will they draw
oil from wells without for my replenishment? By what form of speech shall I
appeal unto them and what language shall impress, that they may know that I am
God! I change not! Nor shall my glory be given to another?
Nevertheless, I will yet awhile be
patient with my people. My purpose shall stand and its consummation shall not
fail. I will exalt whom I will and it shall be for my honor. I will displace
whom I will and it shall be to my praise, and my movements shall speed the
redemption of
Received
Who shall speak of God’s yesterday
or prepare for Him a tomorrow? Who shall command His steps to complete the
program of their devising, or move His fingers to perform their purpose? Wait
ye on His bidding and be satisfied with the counsel of His lips, for the Lord
liveth not to magnify your designs, but to unfold His own and that you may have
glory in cooperation. Say not to your young men, seek wisdom of men as do
others, that you may expertly handle the things of God and be not left to
shame, for skill cometh with the handling to whom he hath chosen, who shall
prove faithful. If ye would excel, wait on the Lord and trust in the
sufficiency of His leading, for He knoweth the fountains that satisfy and thou
shalt be led to drink therefrom. Therein shall the youth find knowledge and the
aged strength.
Aged men whom ye have discarded
shall live. Young men and middle aged upon whom ye depend shall fail and your
calculations shall not stand; for the strength of the house of God shall not be
gathered as you have reckoned. Abraham and Sarah waited on age for the
fulfillment of the covenant in a righteous begetting and thus, as from the
grave, shall emerge giants in God’s strength, and as the womb of age brought
forth to execute, so shall the Lord perform according to His design and not as
your imaginations have prepared His paths, for He shall walk in His own ways to
reveal His power and His glory. The stripling shall be wise, but not in your
wisdom, and the aged shall move with the speed of a young man who hasteth to
his bride, and neither shall have preeminence, for God alone shall be in
remembrance and His hand shall be extolled. The tortoise of His choosing shall
outstrip your swift messengers and the rough stone of His selection shall excel
the luster of the gems of your adornment, and when He shall whisper your
thundering shall not be heard. He shall walk in the paths of His own
appointing, as of old, and the avenues of your invention shall not be entered,
for it shall be a day of God’s revealment and His steps shall be taken as He
hath arranged from the beginning. His ordinances shall speak glory and His
weapons shall declare achievement, and shame and confusion shall cover all that
hath wrought in their stead.
Then shall the beholder exclaim:
“Surely the God of the ancients-the unchangeable Jehovah has returned, to
magnify His ordinations and to vindicate His covenant; to reveal the life of
His utterances, and to bring to pass the triumph of His kingdom among men. 0,
that we had trusted in the eternity of His recollection and had not leaned on
our understanding, then might we have had place in the glory of this
revealment.
As among the Gentiles, even so
among His people has it come to pass. They are drunken, but not with wine; they
stagger, but not with strong drink. A spirit of deep sleep has been poured out
upon them. They drink deep from the fountains of pleasure and in their dreams
say, “This is the vintage of God-behold, this is our life.” They eat at the
tables of carnal delight, which His hand hath not spread and exclaim: “Thus we
banquet for our strength; behold this hath God created, that we might feast to
our delight and revel in our abundance.” They clothe themselves with the
garments woven without His kingdom and of a texture that moths destroy and
worms consume, and in the beauty of these delight themselves; but they shall
awake and shall have intense appetite, and who shall then appease their hunger,
or how shall their wasted years be redeemed? See ye not herein the unwise
virgins of whom hath been written, and hear ye not herein a call unto
repentance?
Ye have read and seek to teach
others. Why will ye not first understand? Have ye not fulfilled the Scriptures:
“Your prophets are hidden and your Seers are covered”? But, remember, your
turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as potter’s clay, for shall the
thing framed say of Him that formed it, ‘He hath no understanding and we must
needs improve his method”?
“Surely the Lord will proceed to do
a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder, for the
wisdom of their wise men shall perish and the understanding of their prudent
men shall be hid.” Ye were chosen out of the world to achieve by His method and
for the glory of His name, but ye have returned to the world for your equipment
and have esteemed His panoply insufficient; but He will bring His ordinances to
honor and His council to be praised by all men. For shall He that hath created
be led forth by the thing He hath made? Shall wisdom leave Him who hath made
the wing when it is to be feathered for flight? The Lord shall clip thy wings in
the day thou shalt spread them, and thou shalt fall prostrate before Him in thy
peril, that thou mayest know that the heights of His consummation can not be
reached on the wings that He hath not plumed.
The Lord shall proceed as of old
and your wise men and your noble ones shall scarce be considered. His
messengers shall bear His image-they shall be clothed with the power of His
might and their tongues shall be as a flame of fire. Their beauty shall be the
excellence of His adornment, for unto -this end have they been permitted to
suffer in the days of their preparation, that the marks of His body might be upon
them. These shall go forth with all of His chosen and shall achieve as has been
written, and their conquest shall be in the glory of His power, for in them
shall He be revealed, and before this revelation shall the thousands of earth
prostrate themselves, and at this beholding shall they cry out unto Him. The
speech of these shall subdue and through the utterance of these shall many be
quickened. The polish of your chosen words which have lulled them to slumber
and the expressions of your preparation, together with the manner of your
modeling by which ye have thought to allure shall be as the dust with which the
foolish maiden hath sought to make her face beautiful, and shall cease to
persuade. Men shall seek life and these cannot supply.
Blessed in that hour shall he be
who hath made the word of the Lord his study and in that hath found
contentment, for his face shall shine with the glory of its fulfillment, and
his feet shall be beautiful in the light of its vindication. His lips and his
tongue shall minister as in the stead of his Master and in these shall the
heavens have delight. Their words shall mean accomplishment, for upon them
shall the heavens wait and their eloquence shall be as the noise of the Holy
Ghost. They shall not be known by the name given them of their fathers, but as
the messengers of God, for in them shall He be discerned and His shall be the
glory of their success.
Who hath ears to hear, let him be
warned. He that hath heart for service let him herein find education. Behold
your Omega in your Alpha, and remember that He who formed His tools for a
beginning hath whetted them for the finish, and the day is at hand. The
instrument shall not employ the Builder, but shall accomplish by the hand that
formed it, as His wisdom hath planned from the beginning, for eternity is His
season and perfection is His attribute.
Received
UNTO THOSE WHO HAVE EARS TO HEAR:
Your zeal for my cause is pleasing unto me and your present travail for my
Church shall bring forth according to my pleasure, for wheresoever my law is in
honor and my ordinances are held as a sacred thing, even as they were delivered
unto you from the beginning, Behold there is my church; and he that imagineth
change in them hath not known me, for I CHANGE NOT, and my ordinances are my
witness.
Whoso laboreth to maintain the
integrity of these among my people confesseth me as his Lord; but he that
varieth therefrom, seeketh not to build up my kingdom, but his own.
I called forth a people from the
world in these last days and entrusted them with treasures from heaven, that
they might be agents unto me, that through them I might achieve in my own way
and that the glory of my purpose might appear; but I have not been trusted.,
nor have my provisions been accounted sufficient, and my people have returned
to the world for their equipment and to make effective their instruments of
accomplishment.
They have mingled my sacred things
with their carnal selections. They have made of my house a resort for pleasure.
They have employed the revenues of my church to promote pursuits that are
secular and interests for which no provision is made in my law. They have
sought to embellish my provisions and the creations of my will with the
inventions of their own imagination until I am nowhere to be found amid the
spectacles of their performance in the separateness of my own attire, and I
have no longer a peculiar people on the earth who are content with me as I am
and as I have revealed myself. My covenant with many has been counted
insufficient, and for purposes outside of my Gospel’s intent, they have adopted
the vows of other shrines and pledged themselves in secret places where I
cannot be found.
I have heard your cries unto me and
it is my will to deliver. My means are available and sufficient; but who will
be content therewith and permit me to glorify myself in them after the manner
of my preference?
Ye have prayed that my kingdom may
come and my will be done among you as it is done in heaven, and in this ye do
well; but who shall be your instructor in these things? Who hath knowledge of
things as they are done in heaven, or who, better than your heavenly Father,
can perform on earth what he hath accomplished in heaven. If his law and
ordinances are sufficient in heaven, shall they prove insufficient if honored
on earth?
Ye would be loyal to me and
therefore have arisen against usurpation by man in my church. Blessed are ye in
so doing, and if ye will be consistent in this my favor shall attend you, for
ye have had great occasion; but remember ye are but reaping today what ye sowed
on yesterday, for had ye been as zealous of my house and mine ordinances
heretofore, then the ears of those entering my house would not have been
saluted, by your consent, with sounds of revelry and mirth and human dogmas and
philosophy, nor their eyes with spectacles of carnal display which seek but to
entertain; but rather with those things which I delivered unto my church, from
heaven, to be used for my glory-those things which voice only holiness unto the
Lord and wherein your discipleship to me is revealed. Such is my Gospel
purpose, for therein have I revealed myself, as I wish men to behold me, and as
I wish to be revealed in them, and this for my glory in their sanctification.
If unto one belongs the right to lessen
the sacredness of any of my institutions, then belongs it also unto another to
pervert the purposes of my law as his inclinations or ambitions may lead; for
if ye consent that the soil be corrupted to grow the weed of your selection,
then be not surprised if the thistle and thorn of your discomfort shall later
appear.
Know ye not that the field is mine
and the seed given for your sowing is from heaven? If therefore ye desire God’s
kingdom, as it is in heaven, among you, plant only the seed wherein alone the
desired fruit is found. If ye desire a celestial harvest, purge yourselves of
terrestrial longings and set your affections on things above.
The policies and assumptions
against which you proclaim shall not prevail, for I am jealous of my law and
whom I shall permit to occupy must minister as a servant, even as did your
Lord, for I alone am supreme; and if my people shall be agreed in holding my
word and ordinances in honor and shall keep themselves pure before me, and
preserve my tabernacles in the holiness unto which they have by formality
dedicated them, ye shall see the salvation of God and that speedily.
Oh, my people, saith the Spirit,
Hear the Word of God today:
Be not slothful but obedient;
‘Tis the world’s momentous day!
Unto honor I have called you-
Honor great as angels know;
Heed ye, then, a Father’s counsel,
And by deeds your purpose show.
Be ye not deceived! Remember,
I have sworn to execute
All my purpose-naught can hinder
Vain what man may institute.
Take ye, then, my hand extended-
Let me lead you where I will;
Peace and safety, light and glory,
Crown the crest of
I have spoken! Few have heeded!
What remains for me to do?
Warnings old wait vindication!
Man must learn that God is true.
The restraining gates my mercy
Led me oft to interpose,
Shall the devastating currents,
Fraught with woe—no more oppose.
Time is ripe! My work must hasten!
Whoso will may bide the hour.
Naught can harm whom God
protecteth-
Elements confess his power.
Up ye then, to the high places
I have bid you occupy!
Peril waits upon the heedless!
Grace upon the souls who try.
Whoso lusteth after pleasure,
High estate or mammon’s store-
Envious or proud remaineth-
Though he gain the world, is poor.
If you would be rich, be holy!
Would you dwell on heights above?
Heed ye, then, this admonition: Climb to atmosphere of love.
Love ye me and love all people-
Love as I have loved you;
This your calling-this my purpose-
Thus be my disciples true.
Then in this exalted station
Your companion I will be;
Every promise of my Scriptures
Will be verified in thee.
Get ye up, then, to your mountain!
For the glory of my coming
Waits to break upon your way!
Forth from thence your testimony
Shall to trembling nations go,
And the world confess that with you
God has residence below.
0, my people! 0, my people!
Is to you my counsel vain?
Why call me your God and Father
While unhonored I remain?
Are my utterances but language
To be mingled in your song?
Do the lips that call me Master
Unto aliens belong?
Think ye I have joy or honor
In the sounds that laud my name,
Where my voice is held to silence
And my ordinance to shame?
What to me your loud hosannas?
What your gifts or zeal’s pretense?
Righteousness hath voice in
service-
Music in obedience.
Ye have said, “God is sufficient-
He alone our strength shall be;
His the glory of achievement-
His the sword of victory:”
What, then, means this quest of
armor?
What this lust for equipage?
That your energies consume and
Cumber in the war you wage?
Who is wise shall learn my secret;
Whoso trusts shall understand;
Wisdom with obedience walketh-
Faith with victory -hand in hand.
Ishmael shall not Isaac fetter,
Nor my
Uzzah’s hand, my ark approaching,
Will be with disaster filled.
My ways
are not yours, but, know ye, I am God, nor
speak in vain: Be not slow
my call to answer- Few the
moments that remain.
Not by skill or wisdom human- Not by wealth
of carnal lore;
But with panoply from heaven Seek ye conquest
evermore.
See ye not the clouds portentous?
Note ye not the world’s alarm-
Nations to their ruin hast’ning-
Self their interest-flesh their
arm?
Is this desolation voiceless?
Speaks this carnage not to you?
Echoing my ancient warning-
Witnessing my word is true?
Would you teach my fingers cunning?
Doth my thought no shrewdness know?
Who hath at my bidding ventured
And been smitten by my foe?
Ages offer you the story-
Centuries my record bear-
Tribute to my prudence paying
In full measure everywhere.
By my skill worlds have their being;
Would you teach my soul to plan?
Years eternal greet my vision:
Think ye yours outstretch the span?
Sense ye dangers I discern not?
Catch ye sounds that ‘scape my ear?
Need the sword my hand hath sharpened
To be whetted by your fear?
Heaven lingers for your answer-
Angels wait your -faith’s appeal:
Of my Spirit hence reveal.
If by these be pledged your triumph
Favor waits you from on high;
Whoso finds not here contentment
Soon must cease to occupy.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
To all who hope within Christ’s
fold
To find a sheltering place
And safety, when long-threatened
I1qs
Shall flood the earth apace.
To all who on His altars lay
The homage of their lip,
But elsewhere pay the tributes that
Reveal discipleship.
Who cry aloud: “Lord, Lord,” to
In forms of song and prayer;
But in his life and counsel see
Few garments fit to wear
Whose words extol the “narrow way,”
And praise the “bread from heaven”
While yet they tread the world’s wide path
And feast upon its leaven.
To all who count it righteousness
Earth’s pleasures to assign
A place in courts designed of God
For heaven alone to shine.
Who cry: “Thy kingdom come-thy will
On earth be done, 0 Lord,”
While Adam holds dominion by
Their carnal will’s accord.
Heedless that God’s true
sovereignty
Is where His ways obtain
And heaven is the consequence
Of His exclusive reign
They wist not that in answering
Their prayer He must demand
The space they fill or in their
lives
Have absolute command.
To all who see not Omega
In Alpha and whose fear
Gives Hagar place and thus with
flesh
Invades the Spirit’s sphere.
Who find not in God’s covenant
Sufficient, and who swear
Allegiance at the shrines to gods
Or idols found elsewhere.
To all who
Mammon’s gauge employ, Heaven’s attitude to rate,
And look for “Houses made with
hands,”
God’s smile to indicate.
Who in huge structures and in
lands—
In increase of earth’s ware
And alien fellowship behold
His church’s wealth-beware!
To all who think that heaven chords
Their choruses of mirth
And lauds their schemes to
dramatize
The scenes of holy birth;
Who in God’s altars see a stage
For spectacled display
And think their images thereon
Reveal a better way.
“A better way!” O fools! Hath God
Of wisdom been bereft?
And unto your superior sense
Has fashioning been left?
How oft must He repeat:
“My ways are not your ways,” but
mine
Alone can serve the purposes
Of Infinite design?
Wedded in
Gospel covenant
To Christ,
professedly;
But with the
world consorting still,
In soul
adultery: Thinking
His grace will sanctify The
union and its brood,
If lodged within the house He built Their presence to
exclude.
Once more the Spirit cries, Beware-
The closing century-
Freighted with warnings waits the
proof
Of their divinity.
God’s vindicating hand must reach
The length of your distrust
And smite
the feet that trample His long-suffering in
the dust.
The elements his signal wait,
To move avengingly,
And time is ripe for harvesting
The field of destiny.
The sickle whetted by God’s hand
For this, in ancient years,
Has ended its long rest and on
Its blade no rust appears.
The field sown with terrestrial
seed
By self-indulgent hand,
In hope that a celestial yield
Therefrom would bless the land,
Is travailing and from its womb
An offspring will emerge
Whose advent means disaster-
Whose song will be a dirge.
Oh, ye who trumpet
The arm on which you lean
Will fail of your expectancy
And leave you bare and lean.
The idols of your hope before
The coming blast will quail
And leave your misplaced confidence
Its folly to bewail.
But from the fields of sacrifice,
By self-denial sown
With ancient seed, prepared of God-
Supplied from heaven alone-
Shall come a call for garners vast,
From reapers who were not
Ashamed of Christ and by His plan
Contentedly have wrought.
These are they
whose eyes beheld
In “living
sacrifice,”
Love’s
offering -not in pelf alone,
But gems
of higher price: Their
wills, affections, and their ways Were on the altar
piled, And -choosing God’s- their
lives to him Became
thus reconciled.
These are Christ’s -they choose to
walk
Where He had shed the light,
These are Christ’s -in pleasing Him
They found, their chief delight.
These are Christ’s -by sacrifice
They gave His methods place
To execute in them the plan
And purposes of Grace.
These in the day portrayed shall find
Deliverance and rest:
Their wisdom then by tongues that scorned
Shall freely be confessed.
As Joseph’s shining anciently
Shall their uprising be,
To honored place, as saviors, clothed
With holy dignity.
Let all who herein shall discern
Their Shepherd’s fond appeal,
Give heed and at the single shrine
Of His appointment kneel,
And fill the lingering interval
Of moments that remain
With evidence that clearly proves
They have not heard in vain.
0 form of dust whose shapeliness
Reveals thy debt to Me,
Whose throbbing heart and soaring
soul
Are echoes endlessly
Of pulses started by My breath
While yet the earth was new,
And which long ages have not
stilled
Or banished from your view.
Wouldst thou become my teacher?
Am I bereft of skill?
Must heaven of earth some wisdom
beg
And God learn Adam’s will?
Shall heaven rest while earth
achieves?
Jehovah and His son
Pay tribute to their outstrippers
Confess themselves outdone?
Whose intellect the volume stored
From whence I wisdom drew
To lay creation’s basis firm?
And from confusion brew
Order and system, and the grace
That gilds the universe?
From whose vast cistern did I dip?
With whom My lips converse?
Where wast thou when my fingertips
Worlds into being pressed?
When blazing constellations first
My Fatherhood confessed?
Who draped the heavens in majesty,
Made fecundate the air,
Gave parentage to soil and sea,
And to their offspring, lair?
Who entered atom’s riot realm
And bridled turbulence?
From Jargon’s hideous roar
distilled
The blend of eloquence?
Who from the fields of element
Gathered and shuttled till
Unpatterned excellence enough
Envolved, earth’s dome to fill?
Who hung night’s curtain, gendered
sleep,
Taught the birds their song?