| 75 would be but the one church, which would be the universal church of the universal world.-For if God teaches one man he will teach him the truth; if two churches were to receive his tuition they would no longer be two but one; and if he teaches the world the world will be one.
There is a principle of intelligence connected with it that burns like a lamp in the bosom of its possessor:-chases away the "gross darkness" with which the human mind has been enveloped, and spreads a halo of glory around. Hence (says the apostle) "because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts." Persons thus situated are "therefore no more strangers; but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God;" possessing a union and relationship to him which nothing but the fulness [fullness] of the gospel can impart; being no longer neither strangers nor servants, but sons.
There is a very material difference between a servant and a son; the ties that bind a father and son together are much more sacred, and binding than those which unite a master and servant. A father feels bound to his child by paternal ties, to his servant he does not: a father expects from his child a filial and an affectionate regard; but he expects a servant merely to do his work, and pays him for his services. A father reveals unto his sons his purposes and designs, he does not acquaint a servant with them: a son inherits his father's property, a servant does not-having received his wages he has no further demand. Hence the reason of Paul's remark, "Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son, and if a son then an heir of God through Christ," and hence also the reason of our Savior's remark John xv.-"Henceforth I call you not servants but friends" (they were his brethren, and God their father) "for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth; but I have called you friends for all things that I have heard of my Father, I have made known unto you." I have revealed it. I have obtained revelations from the Father because I am his son: I have revealed them unto you because ye are his sons also;. and my brethren and friends; "no longer strangers, nor aliens, but fellow-citizens." Christ had revelation, and they had revelation also; because he revealed his Father's will unto them, and they were placed in a situation to know the mind, the will, and purposes of God through the sonship. The great distinction was that a servant did not know what his Lord did, and a son did know; thus we see that a son of God has revelation, a servant has not, and thus is the grand difference between the sectarians, and the Latter-Day Saints.
Take away the principle of revelation from the gospel and it is stript [stripped] of its beauty, robbed of its glory, and like Sampson [Samson] when his locks were shorn, it is weak, feeble, destitute, and powerless.
Enoch understood something of the principles and nature of this sonship, for he walked with God and was not for God took him.
Noah having revelations from God understood this principle; Abraham also being a son of God was made acquainted with the designs of his master, he had revelations from God and knew what his master did.
Isaac Jacob and Moses possessed the same principle, and claimed the same relationship, there were also numbers of them in Job's day, and we read that when the sons of God presented themselves before God, satan also presented himself and the Lord asked him, 'from whence comest thou?' &c.; evidently shewing [showing] that the sons of God, in those days, came into the presence of God and had communion with and revelation from him. The Lord spake also unto Job and he answered and said, 'I have heard of thee, by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth thee:' in fact we read of the sons of God before the flood and of their transgression with the daughters of men: Gen. vi. In fact it is through the medium of this relationship that men in different ages have had communicated unto them the will, purposes, and designs of the great Jehovah; or that they know anything of futurity, of God, heaven or hell. It is this principle that introduces men into the presence of God, draws aside the curtains of futurity, unveils the beauties of the eternal world, and enables man to gaze on the beatific sight, to behold the dignity and glory of God, and to contemplate the future purposes of Jehovah, as they shall roll forth in all their majesty, their dignity and glory.
The Jews were, for a season, placed under a schoolmaster until Christ; but when he came he took all that would obey the gospel from under his tuition, took away the veil that had long been on their hearts, and came "to redeem those that were under the law that they might receive the adoption of sons."
When the gospel was restored, and this sonship again imparted, the heavens were again opened, and the visions of God unfolded; light burst forth upon the human mind, "and life and immortality were" (again) "brought to light by the gospel." Peter, James, and John saw Jesus transfigured on the Mount, and Elijah and Moses talking with him; the sick
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