| 9.
WHEN DID THEY COME? They were here when Columbus made his famous discovery in 1492, and they had been here for centuries. We have already given you the reference of Gen. 11, where they were scattered from there on the face of the whole earth, But that is not all. Come with me and let’s believe in the story as of John 3, That God so loved the world that He gave This only begotten Son that whosoever (that includes me) believeth, might have everlasting life. Some would have us believe He damned most of them. In Isaiah 16, the prophet tells us of a people who would be led by a principle plant, would leave the fields of Heshbon, just south of Jerusalem, they would wander through the wilderness even to the land of Jazer (which is on the border of the Indian Ocean in Southern Arabia). Their branches are stretched out. They are gone over the sea. Now while that particular chapter does not tell where they went, but if you read right on through the 16th and 17th at the beginning of the 18th, it does say, Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia. Now this land shadowing with wings is the two Americas. Look at Rand McNally’s map of the world and see the two Americas stretched out in the shape of a great pair of wings, a perfect symbol, a perfect picture, a true prophecy. Now what? [96] Look at the third paragraph. All ye inhabitants of the world and dwellers on earth see ye. (Hi there, stop right here a minute, till I can make an explanation). This is the Latter Day Restoration of the Gospel along with the description of the land of Joseph where this immigration came, when He lifteth up an ensign, and when He bloweth the trumpet (preaching the Gospel), Hear ye. Read on, “afore the harvest when the sour grape is ripening in the flour” (before the end of the world). This prophecy was given 600 years B. C.. Much more could be said about this immigration which we will discuss later. At any rate they came to this land. Now turn your attention to Hosea 8, I have written to Ephraim the great things of my law and they were counted as a strange thing. Joseph’s Land was to be blessed by the good will of Him that dwelt in the bush. By these two prophecies we have the story. There were writings to those people and it was the good will of God. What mole could He say than to tell you He had written to them. Don’t let your unbelief overcome your good judgment. Believe the prophets. They were not writing fairy tales or novels. It’s the word of God. And there was a great purpose to achieve in preserving those writings. That purpose was to bring their descendants to a knowledge of the truth and convince the Gentiles also that Jesus is the Christ. God made of one blood all nations and determined their bounds. That’s really something whether you believe it or not, its true, and no matter where they live they could feel after Him and find Him. The land of Judea and Galilee were not the only places He could come, as you know He said in our text about the other sheep, “They shall hear my voice, they also must I bring. Now for more scripture about their writings. Sure there is plenty, read Ezek. 37: [97] 15:22, Moreover thou Son of man take thee one stick and write upon it for Judah and for the children of Israel his companions. As you see this stick of Judah was written not only for Judah, but for those Israelites who were associated with him. And everyone who knows the history will freely admit the Holy Bible was written by the prophets of Judah. In the land of Judea and in the land immediately around Jerusalem. Then take thee another stick and write upon it for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and join them one to the other. You see by this that the writing was finished before the two were united. Now this prophecy tells when the two would be joined together. At the time of this union there would be someone who would say, “Thus saith the Lord.” When the children of thy people would say, “Wilt thou show us what thou meanest by these. Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God. That would be a prophet who could tell about the stick of Joseph, he’s the only one who could tell how the stick of Joseph had been preserved and how it could fulfill the prophecy as in Ps. 83. Truth (which is God’s word), shall spring out of the earth and righteous ness shall look down from Heaven and the Lord would give that which is good and our land shall yield her increase. Now take a look at the story. The angel delivered the Golden Plates, (for their writings were on plates of gold), in 1827 to Joseph Smith. He translated them by the gift of God which gift constituted a “seer.” This gift was not enjoyed by the so-called Christian world at that time. Read Isa. 29:10. “They are drunken but not with wine. They stagger but not with strong drink. For the Lord hath poured out upon them the spirit of deep sleep. The prophets and seers and the rulers (apostles) hath he covered. This was the condition of the churches at the [98] time when God chose the Latter Day Prophet, ordained him as Prophet, Seer and Revelator to translate the stick of Joseph, which was delivered to him by the angel in 1827 and in 1829 the translation was completed and the manuscript was delivered to the printer. The book was published in 1830. 5,000 copies the first edition. I have one of those 5,000 copies. Come and see it. It’s contents are amazing, “The good will of Him that appeared in the bush. Blessings from heaven, a history of God’s dealings with the prophets of Joseph‘s line. The prophets that were shepherding the sheep of the other fold, which Jesus spoke of. He appeared to them after His resurrection, called His disciples here in America, ordained them, sent them forth. Same pattern as in Galilee and Judea. For you know that God does not change, neither would Jesus accept a change. So you better make up your mind to work with Him on His own ground, and then He can help you and give you sight to your eyes, blessings in your ears, lead you out and bring you in, so you will not be found in questionable places. Now the Latter Day prophet would —say, Thus saith the Lord. “I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen whither they have gone and will bring them back to their own land and make them one nation upon the mountains of Israel and one king shall be king to them all, and they never more shall be two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all. The Israelites were scattered as a consequence of rejecting the Christ. Now the Lord should remember them and the covenant He made with Abraham. So the stick of Joseph came forth 1827-30. The former and latter rains came back in 1853-54. The land of Canaan became fruitful. The Jews returned and builded the city up as a [99] town without walls and then the Jews became a nation. “The nation Israel on May 14, 1948.” Does that sound good to you? t happened right before your eyes. it’s no secret what God can do. No other book in the world can or even claim to fulfill the prophecy except The Book of Mormon, which is and claims to be The Stick of Joseph. The Latter Day prophet is here. We have the Stick of Joseph. He prophesied of the gathering of Israel. The prophecy came true. The Lord is giving testimony to many of the divinity of the book and the message. It’s a marvelous thing what God has done. The record is in our hand, lie chose the land of Joseph, a land blessed above all other lands. It was God’s will to bring it to light through Joseph’s line, written to the descendants of Joseph. He prepared the place. A nation where religious freedom was enjoyed. A nation of plenty. A free people. It came in a time when they had no prophets, seers or apostles. Read Isaiah 29 :10-11, Yet they were drunken with religious excitement. The Wisdom of their wise men will perish. The understanding of their prudent men would be hid. A time when they were turning things upside down. (Now what’s that). Leaving out the leading lights of the ministry of Apostles, Prophets, Seers, and put in Deacons, Elders and Evangelists, of their own choosing. Thus turning things upside down. Shall the work say to Him that made it. He made me not or the thing framed (the church) to Him that framed it, He had no understanding’? Surely your turnings of thii upside down shall be esteemed as the potters’ clay. I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people. Even a marvelous work and a wonder. That work is going on now. It’s alive and we deliver it to you alive. Come to the living waters and drink while it is called today and your soul [100] will be satisfied and you will be permitted to be raised in glory and not be resurrected in shame. A TESTIMONY THAT LIVES My father Jas. M. Case desired a testimony of the Book of Mormon, and often prayed for a testimony. It was his custom of going to the barn (we lived on a farm) of an evening before he went to bed and see if the stock were 0. K., and often he would have secret prayer while down there, although we may have had prayer together before he went. So on this particular evening he went to the barn and had prayer, asking God to give him a testimony of The Book of Mormon. He came back to the house and prepared for bed and just as he had laid down in bed there was a knock on the door. Father said, ‘Come in.’’ It was a heavenly messenger. He said, get up and put on your clothes. He did. He said, Come over here to the stand (a table for our Bible and church books). He took the Bible and turned leaf by leaf and explained the texts that particularly refer to the Book of Mormon, such as Gen. 49, Deut. 33, Ps. 85, Isa. 29, Ezek. 37, and others. When he got through he said, “Are you satisfied?’’ Father replied, “Is the Book of Mormon the record referred to?’’ He said, ‘‘Have you read the testimony of the three witnesses?’’ He said, ‘‘Yes.’’ The angel said that testimony is true and that is the Book. My Father said, “I’d like to ask you one more quest\on.” He replied, “That is what I’m here for.” He said, “What about the Doctrine and Covenants” He replied, “The Doctrine and Covenants is the law given to govern the church in this day.” The angel said, “Are you satisfied?.” He said, “I am.” He departed. [101] LET’S GO ON IN THE FAITH WITH THE SAINTS COME ON Fear not the cause is good, The Jews have built Jerusalem as prophets said they would. His servant now is calling you, As prophets of the days gone by. Yes, the time of our Lord’s return with Saints amid the sky. His coming will be very soon. His reward is in His hand. He’ll give to every soul like you, Their portion of the land. Though you’ve been doubtful if He comes, Dismiss your doubts and fear, Your Saviour soon will come to earth, And reign a thousand years. Our Zion will arise and shine, It’s beauty will be seen. Put on those robes and come and dine, His people He’ll redeem. The record is in our hands. We have plenty of testimony. It’s a marvelous thing what God has done. He’s with us yet, we do not need to wish we could have been at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple. It happened in our day. Write me or come and see me, and let’s talk it over and you will see and know for yourself. God will take care of you and save you. If you will. [102] SERMON PREACHED AT EDEN HEIGHTS Subject: Whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continueth therein: He being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work will be blessed in his deed. Jas.1:25. May the grace of God be with you while I tell you this story tonight. I’m happy to be with you and hope that I may be able to pass over to you some of the things that are dear to my heart. I wondered what I would tell you and this text was given to me for this sermon. That compound personal pronoun “whoso” means every man, woman and child. So this sermon is for you. I dare say each of you will agree with me that God’s law is perfect and needs no repair or modification. It’s eternally fixed and cannot be repealed. Now put that down as a foundation principle worthy of our faith and love and I will take you through this story and we will still be friends and walk on the same road and climb the same mountain. I dare say everyone here tonight have stepped over the threshold into the church. But let me say to you that when you do so, your work has begun. We must climb to our mountain. Each of us have that climb to make and although you may feel you may have too much. God knows how much we need and how much we can stand and those trials are the dark threads we weave into our lives and we may not know why they are there until God unrolls the pattern of our lives and explains their necessity. it is the one who continues to climb who reaches the top of the hill. It takes a live fish to go up stream, any dead thing can float down. In this great Latter Day Restoration we have a definite goal to reach. That goal is Zion. The pure in heart. Our Lord said to us in Sec. 102, D. C., Zion cannot be redeemed except it be by the law of the celestial king [103] dom and the reason of failure of the church 125 years ago was that there were all kinds of wickedness among them, and they were not united according to the union required by the law of the celestial kingdom. Now that law of the celestial kingdom is equality and unless we work towards that goal we are not working for Zion. It’s perfectly easy for us no doubt to comply with the law of the land. Its easy to keep those commandments, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, etc. But there are other things He commands us to do that I’m sure you would not get the job done if you did not have help to do it. For example: “If one should compel thee to go with him a mile, Go with him two miles. If any one smite thee on the right cheek turn him the other also. That’s hard to do I know. It that second mile, that left cheek that I want to talk to you about. We are concerned too much about those clothes we wear and the things to eat, and the money to meet our temporal wants. Jesus said consider the lilies of the field how they grow. They toil not neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. And if God so clothed the grass, could He not clothe you, 0 ye of little faith? It seems to me He means to tell us it does not require very much faith to work for the things that satisfy our appetites or selfish desires, food and clothing. But it does require faith to share those temporal things with another. And that sharing with those who are in need is that law of the celestial kingdom. That deep desire that causes us to share with the Lord and in His work will be rewarded in such a way that our cup will run over and goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our life. In Sec. 102 of the D. C. is our answer and we never will reach the place called Zion, the pure in heart until we condition our hearts until they are mellow with love [104] and our feet shod with a consecrated step and our hands trained in the art of giving until we are equal in temporal things. Then we will have a conscious void of regret and a sweet feeling of peace that comes from God will shine upon us until our souls (spirit and body) will respond to the perfect law of liberty and a hedge will be built around us, and the devil will be shut out. Insomuch that the Light of Heaven with all its array of beauty will be realized and the prophecy come true that out of Zion the perfection of beauty God will shine. Come to the waters of salvation and He will commune with us in Zion. Get down on your knees as did the noble 300 and drink from a living fountain and all the powers of earth and hell combined cannot hinder the building of that New Jerusalem. the city of our God. Go on in faith ye saints go on. Fear not the cause is good. The Jews have builded Jerusalem as prophets said they would. The prophets said in the Latter Days the Jews would once again return and build their city up, their loved Jerusalem. Though many years have rolled away and generations past, the Jews have gathered home and builded it at last. Said God when you see this take place, Know ye the time is nigh, Wben you will see your Saviour come, With Saints amid the sky. To execute His judgments here, Upon this wicked earth. Rejoice, Rejoice, do not fear, With shouts of joy go forth. Gird up yourselves and be ye strong, The chosen time has come, When Zion must in beauty rise As well Jerusalem. May God bless you. Amen. [105] |
 |