When the Prophet of the New Dispensation asked God for wisdom, and which of the many churches about him he should join, he was told to join none of them, for they were all wrong; their creeds were false; they drew near to the Lord with their lips, but their hearts were far removed from him; they had a form of godliness but denied the power thereof; that the Christian world, especially, had, in fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy, transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances, and had broken the everlasting covenant, (Isaiah xxiv), of which the blood of the Christ was the blood of that everlasting covenant. He promised the incoming of a New Dispensation of the Gospel of Christ, which would link together and unite all former dispensations, from Adam down to the present time, the great stream of events speeding on towards an immense ocean of truth in which it would be united with all truth. It was a world movement. To lay the foundations of a greater faith, it brought forth the American volume of scripture, the Book of Mormon. In time the authority of God, the holy priesthood was restored, the minor phase of it, through John the Baptist; and later Peter, James and John, who held the keys of the kingdom of heaven, bestowed upon them by the Christ, appeared to the Prophet Joseph and Oliver Cowdery, and the divine and supreme authority from God was conferred upon them. By this authority and under the power of it they organized the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, outlined its doctrines, and established it firmly in the earth.

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Joseph Smith obtained his knowledge also by faith, but not in any easy fashion. I remember that David Whitmer, one of the witnesses to the truth of the Book of Mormon, said in one of his passages printed on the subject:

"Joseph Smith was a good man when I knew him. He had to be, or he could not go on with his work."

And he cites a circumstance in his book, addressed to all "Believers in Christ"-something unpleasant had arisen among the group living at the home of the Whitmers, while and where the Book of Mormon was being translated: The Prophet had some misunderstanding with his wife, Emma; she was not always satisfied with her lot, and was sorely tried. So after this disagreement had taken place in the household he came up to the translating room, where David Whitmer and Oliver Cowdery were waiting for his coming. He took up the divine instrument, the Urim and Thummim, tried to translate but utterly failed. Things remained dark to his vision. David Whitmer tells how Joseph left the translating room and went to the woodslot on the Whitmer farm, and there corrected himself, brought himself into a state of humiliation and of exaltation at the same time. He went back to the house, became reconciled to Emma, his wife, came up to the translating room, and again the visions were given and the translation went on. But he could translate only as he was in a state of exaltation of mind and in accord with the Spirit of God, which leads to the source of hidden treasures of knowledge. . . .

THE BOOK OF MOSES

It goes further than we have come, this knowledge by faith. After the Prophet had translated the Book of Mormon he began to receive the revelations which today make up the Book of Moses (Pearl of Great Price), the translation of which began to be published about six months after the Book of Mormon had been translated. I read to you one or two passages from that, to show you how wonderful it is, and it leads directly up to the consideration of these matters that are contemplated by our learned scientists of modern days.

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God said to Joseph Smith that He "gave unto him commandments which inspired him," and gave him power from on high to translate the Book of Mormon, and thence followed all which brought forth the New and Last Dispensation. After the Book of Mormon came the restoration of the Priesthood, the Aaronic and the Melchizedek-with the Apostleship, holding as it does the very keys of all the spiritual powers of the priesthood, the keys of the heavenly kingdom. Then the organization of the church; the translation of ancient scripture—the Book of Moses and the Book of Abraham; the coming of the Christ, of Moses, Elias and Elijah, with the keys of their respective dispensations—all this and numerous revelations to the Prophet which brought forth a development of the truth, that surpasses all revealed truth of former dispensations. This from the commandments which inspired the Prophet!