Last night an article containing the Solemn Proclamation to All Nations was posted. This proclamation was written in 1845 by the Quorum of Twelve Apostles to the kings of the world, the president-elect, governors of the land, and all nations of the earth in fulfillment of D&C 124:1-11.
It was first printed in a sixteen-page pamphlet in New York City on April 6, 1845, and again in Liverpool, England, October 22, 1845. It was addressed to the rulers and people of all nations. This document was an announcement that God had spoken from the heavens and had restored the gospel of Jesus Christ to the earth. It spoke of blessings and of punishments to come, issued a warning voice, and invited all who were interested to assist in the building of the kingdom of God on the earth in preparation for the Savior’s second coming.1
The proclamation stands as a bold testimony and witness of the restoration of the gospel. Please leave your comments to this article below.
Matthews, Robert J. “Proclamations of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.” 1992. Encyclopedia of Mormonism. 10 Apr 2010.↩
In the quote below, M. Catherine Thomas related a personal experience she had with her husband, twelve other mission presidents and their wives, in Buenos Aires in 1997. In this account Jeffrey R. Holland, an apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, referred to his own apostolic witness of Christ’s resurrection:
It was mid-morning in the Area Offices in Buenos Aires, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and his wife were due to arrive, but had been delayed by an emergency in a distant place. With little sleep and little time to refresh themselves, they entered our seminar room. After Elder Holland greeted each of us personally, he stood in the semicircle formed by some thirteen mission presidents and their wives and said, “We are not yet the Church of Jesus Christ.” His context was “the real way to do missionary work,” but the larger meaning of his principles went down into our hearts. “I testify that we are preparing for something, and there is a big gap between what we are and what we must become. I don’t know when the Savior will come, but the work is going very fast – faster than you think.”
“Why isn’t it easier?” he asked. “Because,” he answered, “we don’t believe in cheap salvation or cheap grace. We have to be pushed to the limit, back to the wall. Then the angels come and God speaks: ‘Be patient, Ill give you success. The only way out is through.’ We have to drink the bitter cup, even though we’re wanting, wishing for, another way. The Savior is the model: ‘I’ll drink the bitter cup to its dregs.’ The last words he said in the Old World were, ‘I will finish.’ The first words in the New World were, ‘I did finish.’ He suffered the will of the Father. This is required of all of us too. We bow our head and say, ‘Yes.’ That’s when all the miracles happen. We must be stretched as we can be, and then God will step in with His power.”
Then this: “If there are no miracles, it’s because we don’t want them. The majority don’t have miracles because they don’t live where miracles happen. When we become as obedient as Christ, we will have miracles.” He paraphrased the little French poem about our having to risk coming to the edge in order to experience the miraculous: “God says to us: ‘Come to the edge.’ ‘No, I’ll fall.’ ‘Come to the edge.’ ‘No, I’ll fall.’ ‘Come to the edge.’ So, I came to the edge, He pushed me, and I flew.”1
Then he paused and said, “I love Jesus Christ and have a relationship I cannot really share. He is the most compelling theme in my life – a very rewarding obsession. I have often borne witness: Now I AM a witness. I am a witness of the Resurrection in the same sense as Peter, James, John, Brigham, and Wilford.” His witness is the fruit of unconditional commitment.2
In 1933, LeRoi C. Snow wrote about the Savior’s appearance to his father, Lorenzo Snow, within the confines of the Salt Lake Temple in 1898. At this time, Lorenzo Snow was the President of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles and next in line to succeed Wilford Woodruff as Prophet, Seer and Revelator and President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He relates:
For some time President Woodruff’s health had been failing. Nearly every evening President Lorenzo Snow visited him at his home. This particular evening the doctors said that President Woodruff could not live much longer, that he was becoming weaker every day. President Snow was greatly worried. We cannot realize today what a terrible financial condition the Church was in at that time—owing millions of dollars and not being able to pay even the interest on its indebtedness.
LeRoi went on to relate that his father repaired to the Salt Lake Temple and,
. . . there plead to the Lord to spare President Woodruff’s life, that President Woodruff might outlive him and that the great responsibility of Church leadership would not fall upon his shoulders. Yet he promised the Lord that he would devotedly perform any duty required at his hands. . . .
. . . [On 2 September 1898, after receiving word of the death of Wilford Woodruff, President Snow] went to his private room in the Salt Lake Temple.
Yesterday began the start of a series of posts this week about the endowment in anticipation of the dedication of the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple from August 21st to 23rd. Prior to the dedication and the solemn assembly at the Kirtland Temple1, Joseph Smith spent much of his time teaching and preparing the saints in anticipation of those events. In November 1835, he taught the Quorum of the Twelve the following:
I am happy in the enjoyment of this opportunity of meeting with this Council on this occasion. I am satisfied that the Spirit of the Lord is here, and I am satisfied with all the brethren present; and I need not say that you have my utmost confidence, and that I intend to uphold you to the uttermost, for I am well aware that you have to sustain my character against the vile calumnies and reproaches of this ungodly generation, and that you delight in so doing.
Darkness prevails at this time as it did at the time Jesus Christ was about to be crucified. The powers of darkness strove to obscure the glorious Sun of righteousness, that began to dawn upon the world, and was soon to burst in great blessings upon the heads of the faithful; and let me tell you, brethren, that great blessings await us at this time, and will soon be poured out upon us, if we are faithful in all things, for we are even entitled to greater spiritual blessings than they were, because they had Christ in person with them, to instruct them in the great plan of salvation. His personal presence we have not, therefore we have need of greater faith, on account of our peculiar circumstances; and I am determined to do all that I can to uphold you, although I may do many things inadvertently that are not right in the sight of God. . . .
A previous post entitled Inspirational Poetry includes Joseph Smith’s poetic rendition of Doctrine and Covenants 76 or the three degrees of glory. Philo Dibble was present when “the vision” was given in an upper room of the John Johnson farm in Hiram, Ohio.
Concerning the vision of the three degrees of glory, Larry E. Dahl explained:
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has an optimistic view of the eternal rewards awaiting mankind in the hereafter. Members of the Church believe that there are “many mansions” (John 14:2) and that Christ’s Atonement and resurrection will save all mankind from death, and eventually will reclaim from hell all except the sons of perdition (D&C 76:43-44). The saved, however, are not placed into a monolithic state called heaven. In the resurrection of the body, they are assigned to different degrees of glory commensurate with the law they have obeyed. There are three kingdoms of glory: the celestial, the terrestrial, and the telestial.1.
These kingdoms were also referred to by the Apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians. He said the glory of each kingdom differed “from one another as the sun, moon, and stars differ in brilliance.”2
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