| 715 him the keys of the mystery of those thing which have been sealed, even things which were from the foundation of the world, and the thing which shall come from this time until the time of my coming, if he abide in me, and if not, another will I plant in his stead."
From the facts before us, and the blood of the martyred prophet, it is more than mere hope so, or say so, that Joseph did abide in God until he escaped in blood to bliss, giving Sidney not even the hope of a promise of the "keys of the mystery." As to the promise of his being a spokesman before the face of the Lord, if he did not transgress and get cut off by the legal authority of the church, I have not a word to say. It may be as necessary to have a Pelagoram as an Aaron, but that is no sign that either of them can enter the goodly land alive. Honor and shame can both be rewarded.
But I have not done with keys: Sidney or his "stick," makes a great ado about the keys: on the 330th page of said Doctrine and Covenants, we read:
"Verily I say unto you, the keys of this kingdom shall never be taken from you, while thou art in the world, neither in the world to come: nevertheless, through you shall the oracles be given to another; yea, even unto the church."
Sure enough-to the church: but nothing is promised to Sidney. In the next paragraph is this masterly idea:-(Sidney Rigdon and F. G. Williams) "They are accounted as equal with thee (Joseph) in holding the keys of this kingdom"-that is:-both of them were equal with Joseph, &c. One could not be "equal," because he could not constitute a quorum. It has been urged that Sidney was once ordained a prophet, seer and revelator in the church, and no doubt was so; but, what of it? On the 214th page of said Doctrine and Covenants, it reads, speaking of particular servants:
"This is an ensample unto all those who were ordained unto this priesthood, whose mission is appointed unto them to go forth: and this is the ensample unto them, that they shall speak as they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost, shall be scripture; shall be the will of the Lord; shall be the mind of the Lord; shall be the word of the Lord; shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation."
But when was Joseph Smith ordained by man as a prophet, translator, seer, and revelator? Never. When was Moses or Jesus ordained prophets, seers, or revelators, by man? Never. God does such sacred business in heaven before hand. See Psalm 45.
On page one hundred and fifty, of said Doctrine and Covenants, it is said to Joseph Smith by the Lord, "Behold thou wast called and chosen to write the Book of Mormon, and to my ministry." The church record does not show that Joseph Smith ever transgressed, but the same record, after showing Sidney in his ups and downs, leaves him "cut off" by all the spiritual authorities, for transgressions. And now if he still persists in his course of rebellion to the constituted authorities established by revelation, and endeavors to establish a new place of gathering, contrary to former commandments, we shall not have to mutilate the following passage much, to touch his case exactly:
"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him.
That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, not by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition."
The saints of the last days have witnessed the outgoings and incomings of so many apostates that nothing but truth has any effect upon them. In the present instance, after the sham quotations of Sidney and his clique, from the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants, to skulk off, under the "dreadful splendor" of "spiritual wifery," which is brought into the account as graciously as if the law of the land allowed a man a plurality of wives, is fiendish, and like the rest of Sidney's revelation, just because he wanted "to go to Pittsburg [Pittsburgh] and live." Wo to the man or men who will thus wilfully [willfully] lie to injure an innocent people! The law of the land and the rules of the church do not allow one man to have more than one wife alive at once, but if any man's wife die, he has a right to marry another, and to be sealed to both for eternity; to the living and the dead! there is no law of God or man against it! This is all the spiritual wife system that ever was tolerated in the church, and they know it.
The cream of Sidney's stick is the explanation of the parable of the twelve olive trees in said Doctrine and Covenants, at the latter end of the wonderful epistle. This must be the glory of Sidney's excellency. By the bye the
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