| 78 provision for all this stupendous organization and its practical workings by his own wisdom and cunning? If so, he was taking desperate chances on being able to find the requisite material-the men to fill the places provided for them. Yet as time moved on, men who had not known of the existence of Joseph Smith when the provision was made, came forward one by one, dropped into line, took the positions provided for them, subscribed to the fraud, if fraud it was, and cheerfully suffered persecution, violence, and death for the cause. And still, after more than half a century has elapsed, men of talent and moral influence are leaving positions of wealth and honor to accept positions in the ranks of that great army, provision for which was made ere the material for its organization was found.
Reader, you have your choice between believing that such a series of events could have been provided for by the sagacity of Joseph Smith, or of believing his claim that he was inspired of God to lay the foundation and provide for the unfolding of God's plan and the development of his church. As historians we do no more than to record these facts for your consideration.
Joseph continues as follows:-
"We now proceeded to call out and ordain some others of the brethren to different offices of the priesthood, according as the Spirit manifested unto us; and after a happy time spent in witnessing and feeling for ourselves the powers and the blessings of the Holy Ghost, through the grace of God bestowed upon us, we dismissed with the pleasing knowledge that we were now individually members of, and acknowledged of God, 'The Church of Jesus Christ,' organized in accordance with commandments and revelations given by him to ourselves in the last days, as well as according to the order of the church as recorded in the New Testament.
"Several persons who had attended the above meeting and got convinced of the truth, came forward shortly after, and were received into the church, among the rest, my own father and mother were baptized to my great joy and consolation,
(page 78) |
