| 657 were like God. All things are present before God to all eternity, and when the prophets received the Spirit of God, it brought things that were in the future, and made them present before them.-When the saints had visions of heavenly things their knowledge was increased.
Some of the saints of ancient days were in a great degree, if not fully, perfect in their sphere of action, because they sought and obtained that which was for them. But Oh! how changed the scene! Men now profess to be saints, and even to be wholly sanctified, and some to be perfect, without receiving any such blessings, or even obeying the first principles of the gospel of Christ.-Awake! Awake! to righteousness and sin not, O ye nations, kindreds, and people of the earth, and put away such delusive notions, and keep the commandments of the Great God, that you may be counted worthy to sit down in the kingdom of heaven with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the prophets.
EXTRACT,
From C. Thompson's Proclamation and Warning.
O Ye inhabitants of America, be it known unto you, that the land on which you dwell was given by the promise of God unto Joseph the son of Jacob, for an everlasting possession; and it was blessed by Moses, the man of God, and confirmed upon Joseph and upon Ephraim the crown, or top of the head of - Joseph, for God's good will towards them.
Also, be it known unto you, that Jesus Christ did appear in person to a remnant of Jacob, who were of the tribe of Joseph,--the forefathers of the American Indians--and did give unto them all this land for their inheritance. But this being a choice land above all other lands, or it being more blessed of the Lord than any other land, God did decree and confirmed it with an oath, that no nation should ever possess this land, unless they would serve him and keep his commandments. Therefore, be it known unto you, O ye Gehtiles[Gentiles] who now possess this land, that it was because of this decree of the great Jehovah that your fathers were permitted to cross the great deep, and come to this land with power sufficient to dispossess the remnants of Joseph, (who had polluted their inheritance by transgression,) and take possession of their land. Yea, it was because of this decree that Christopher Columbus, a native of Genoa, an obscure individual, was blessed with a largeness of mind which disdained to confine itself to the old beaten track, and was inspired to contend for eight years with the learned ignorance of the courts and councils of Europe, when (after many a fruitless struggle,) a small fleet was fitted out consisting of three small vessels, and placed under his command, which sailed from spain [Spain] in 1492, under the patronage of Ferdinand and Isabella then on the united thrones of Castile and Arragon, which terminated in the discovery of America-the land of Joseph-a land more blessed of the Lord than any other land "for the precious things of Heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath, and for the precious fruits brought forth by the Sun, and for the precious things put forth by the Moon, and for the chief things of the ancient mountains and for the precious things of the lasting hills, and for the precious things of the earth and the fullness thereof."
And be it known unto you, O ye Gentiles, that this Columbus was inspired by the Almighty Jehovah to make this discovery, that the poor and meek of the earth, and the persecuted and oppressed of all nations might have a place to which they could fly and be secure from the iron grasp of poverty, wretchedness and want, and from the cruel unrelenting hand of the oppressor. And when in process of time the tyrants of the Eastern World began to extend their oppressions unto this land. God raised up a Washington and inspired him to resist their oppression and by the strong arm of military power to maintain and defend the rights of the American colonies as free and independent States, and after the definitive treaty was finally signed and the American colonies were acknowledged free and independent States by all the European powers, and the Commissioners, who were the sages of this government, assembled from the different States and met at Philadelphia on the memorable 10th of May 1787, for the purpose of organizing the General Government, God inspired them to frame the American Constitution so as thereby to establish the rights of man upon the broad basis of civil and religious liberty, that here might forever be found an asylum for the oppressed of all nations
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