| 707 upon almost every thing we behold.
And now what remains to be done, under circumstances like these? I will proceed to tell you what the Lord requires of all people, high and low, rich and poor, male and female, ministers and people, professors of religion, and non-professors, in order that they may enjoy the Holy Spirit of God to a fulness [fullness], and escape the judgments of God, which are almost ready to burst upon the nations of the earth.-Repent of all your sins, and be baptised [baptized] in water for the remission of them, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and receive the ordinance of the laying on of the hands of him who is ordained and sealed unto this power, that ye may receive the Holy Spirit of God; and this is according to the Holy scriptures, and the Book of Mormon; and the only way that man can enter into the celestial kingdom. These are the requisitions of the new covenant, or first principles of the gospel of Christ: then "add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity; (or love,) and if these things be in you, and abound, they make you to be neither barren, nor unfruitful, in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."
The Book of Mormon is a record of the fore fathers of our western tribes of Indians; having been found through the ministration of an holy angel, and translated into our own language by the gift and power of God, after having been hid up in the earth for the last fourteen hundred years, containing the word of God which was delivered unto them. By it we learn that our western tribes of Indians are descendants from that of Joseph that was sold into Egypt, and that the land America is a promised land unto them, and unto it, all the tribes of Israel will come, with as many of the Gentiles as shall comply with the requisitions of the new covenant. But the tribe of Judah will return to old Jerusalem. The city of Zion, spoken of by David, in the one hundred and first Psalm, will be built upon the land of America, "and the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to it with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads," and then they will be delivered from the overflowing scourge that shall pass through the land. But Judah shall obtain deliverance at Jerusalem. See Joel 2:32. Isaiah 26:20, and 21st. Jeremiah 31: and 12 Psalms 50:5. Ezekiel 34:11, 12, and 13. These are testimonies, that the good Shepherd will put forth his own sheep, and lead them out from all nations where they have been scattered in a cloudy and dark day, to Zion, and to Jerusalem; besides many more testimonies which might be brought.
And now I am prepared to say by the authority of Jesus Christ, that not many years shall pass away, before the United States shall present such a scene of bloodshed as has not a parallel in the history of our nation; pestilence, hail, famine, and earthquakes will sweep the wicked of this generation from off the face of the land, to open and prepare the way for the return of the lost tribes of Israel from the north country. The people of the Lord, those who have complied with the requisitions of the new covenant, have already commenced gathering together to Zion, which is in the State of Missouri; therefore I declare unto you the warning which the Lord has commanded me to declare unto this generation, remembering that the eyes of my Maker are upon me, and that to him I am accountable for every word I say, wishing nothing worse to my fellow men than their eternal salvation; therefore, "fear God and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment is come"-Repent ye, repent ye, and embrace the everlasting covenant, and flee to Zion before the overflowing scourge overtake you, for there are those now living upon the earth whose eyes shall not be closed in death until they see all these things, which I have spoken, fulfilled. Remember these things; call upon the Lord while he is near, and seek him while he may be found, is the exhortation of your unworthy servant,
JOSEPH SMITH, jr.
(To be continued.)
FROM THE "ISLANDS OF THE SEA."
Ship Timoleon, Pacific Ocean, April 25th 1844, Latitude 25 deg. 19 min. south, Longitude 149 deg. 11 min. west from Greenwich.
ELDER W. W. PHELPS-DEAR BROTHER IN CHRIST:-As I promised before we left Nauvoo to write to you, I embrace this opportunity as we are nearing Tahita; as in all probability we shall find a ship there bound for home, I have not that portion of interesting matter which I no doubt should have if we had entered our field of labor; but as we have performed a passage that has conveyed us more than three quarters around the globe, a rude sketch of our voyage may not be uninteresting to you, as I know you to be a historian. I wrote from the Cape de Verds to my wife, and the particulars as to that place you have no doubt learned before this. I have also commenced a letter to Br. Brigham Young, in which I have given a brief detail of our situation on shipboard.
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