| 480 TIMES AND SEASONS.
"Truth will prevail."
Vol. V. No. 7.] CITY OF NAUVOO, ILL. APRIL 1, 1844. [whole No. 91.
HISTORY OF JOSEPH SMITH.
Continued
The fore part of September was spent in making preparations to remove to the town of Hiram and re-commence the translation of the Bible. The brethren who were commanded to go up to Zion were earnestly engaged in getting ready to start in the coming October. On the 11th of September I received the following:
A Revelation given in Kirtland, September, 1831.
Behold, thus saith the Lord your God unto you, O ye elders of my church, hearken ye, and hear, and receive my will concerning you; for verily I say unto you, I will that ye should overcome the world: wherefore I will have compassion upon you. There are those among you who have sinned; but verily I say, for this once, for mine own glory, and for the salvation of souls, I have forgiven you your sins.
I will be merciful unto you, for I have given unto you the kingdom; and the keys of the mysteries of the kingdom, shall not be taken from my servant Joseph Smith, jr. through the means I have appointed, while he liveth, inasmuch as he obeyeth mine ordinances. There are those who have sought ocasion [occasion] against him without cause; nevertheless he has sinned, but verily I say unto you, I the Lord forgiveth sins unto those who confess their sins before me, and ask forgiveness, who have not sinned unto death. My disciples, in days of old, sought occasion against one another, and forgave not one another in their hearts, and for this evil they were afflicted, and sorely chastened: wherefore I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another, for he that forgiveth not his brother his tresspasses [trespasses], standeth condemned before the Lord, for there remaineth in him the greater sins. I the Lord will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men; and ye ought to say in your hearts, let God judge between me and thee, and reward thee according to thy deeds. And he that repenteth not of his sins, and confesseth them not, then shall ye bring him before the church, and do with him as the scriptures saith unto you, either by commandment, or by revelation. And this ye shall do that God might be glorified, not because ye forgive not, having not compassion, but that ye may be justified in the eyes of the law, that ye may, not offend him who is your Lawgiver.
Verily I say, for this cause ye shall do these things. Behold I the Lord was angry with him who was my servant Ezra Booth; and also my servant Isaac Morley; for they kept not the law, neither the comandment [commandment]; they sought evil in their hearts, and I the Lord withheld my Spirit. They condemned for evil, the thing in which there was no evil; nevertheless I have forgiven my servant Isaac Morley. And also my servant Edward Partridge, behold he hath sinned, and satan seeketh to destroy his soul; but when these things are made known unto them, they repent of the evil, and they shall be forgiven.
And now verily I say, that it is expedient in me that my servant Sidney Gilbert, after a few weeks, should return upon his business, and to his agency in the land of Zion; and that which he hath seen and heard may be made known unto my disciples, that they perish not. And for this cause have I spoken these things. And again, I say unto you, that my servant Isaac Morely may not be tempted above that which he is able to bear, and council wrongly to your hurt, I gave commandment that this farm should be sold. I willeth not that my servant Frederick G. Williams should sell his farm, for I the Lord willeth to retain a strong hold in the land of Kirtland, for the space of five years, in the which I will not overthrow the wicked, that thereby I may save some; and after that day, I the Lord will not hold any guilty, that shall go, with an open heart, up to the land of Zion: For I the Lord requireth e [the] hearts of the children of men.
Behold it is called to-day, (until the coming of the Son of Man) and verily it is a day of sacrifice, and a day for the tithing of my people; for he that is tithed shall not be burned (at his coming;) for after to-day cometh the burning: this is speaking after the manner of the Lord; for verily I say, to-morrow all the proud and they that do wickedly shall be as stubble: and I will burn them up, for I am the Lord of Hosts; and I will not spare any that remaineth in Babylon. Wherefore if ye believe me, ye will labor while it is called to-day. And it is not meet that my servants Newel K. Whitney and Sidney Gilbert should sell their store, and their possessions here, for this is not wisdom until the residue of the church, which remaineth in this place, shall go up to the land of Zion.
Behold it is said in my laws, or forbidden to get into debt to thine enemies; but behold it is not said at any time, that the Lord should not
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